The short version

Claim we investigated

Some of Seattle's supportive housing buildings are among the city's top addresses for 911 overdose calls.

True. Seven of the 10 Seattle street addresses with the most 911 overdose calls since 2023 are supportive housing. Two buildings run by the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) tie for the most overdose calls of any Seattle street address. Per apartment, supportive housing logs about 36 times the calls of other large buildings.

Quote or cite this fact-check
FactHub rates the claim “Some of Seattle's supportive housing buildings are among the city's top addresses for 911 overdose calls” True (high confidence): Seven of the 10 Seattle street addresses with the most 911 overdose calls since 2023 are supportive housing. Reviewed November 11, 2026. https://facthub.org/n/article/seattle-supportive-housing-overdose-calls/3

Key points

What the evidence establishes

  • Established. From January 2023 to October 2026, 7 of the 10 Seattle street addresses with the most 911 overdose calls were supportive housing buildings.
  • Established. DESC's Hobson Place and The North Star tied for first, with 50 overdose calls each; Plymouth Housing's Almquist Place had 43.
  • Established. Per 100 apartments, supportive housing logged 3.65 overdose calls a year, against 0.10 in other Seattle rental buildings with 50 or more units.
  • Established. Counting street corners too, four downtown intersections lead the list; Hobson Place and The North Star tie for 5th.
  • Established. Only about a third of overdoses are dispatched as overdoses, but counting all medical calls, supportive housing still logs about 14 times as many per apartment.
  • Not shown. These buildings house people with severe needs by design, so the counts don't show the housing causes overdoses or that operators do poorly.
Important context: Permanent supportive housing is publicly funded apartments, with staff and services on site, for adults who were homeless for a long time, often with disabilities, mental illness or addiction. DESC, the largest operator, follows Housing First, which offers an apartment without requiring treatment or sobriety first. Here an overdose call is a 911 call dispatched as an overdose from what the caller reported, about a third of the suspected overdoses firefighters handle. A call is not a death.

The evidence

The conclusion rests on the combined record. Expand each item to see its role and limitations.

Independence note: This check uses 4 methods across 5 institutions and 1 country or international grouping.
Evidence map
Method Institution / country Year(s) What it shows Key limitation Primary links
We counted every Seattle Fire Department dispatch with an overdose call type from January 2023 to October 2026, by address, in the city's public dispatch data. We set aside calls logged at intersections, which are street scenes, ranked the street addresses, and identified what is at each one from operator websites, the city's housing map and King County parcel records. Seattle Fire Department, City of Seattle United States 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 Seven of the 10 street addresses with the most overdose calls are permanent supportive housing. They are DESC's Hobson Place and The North Star (50 each) and Plymouth Housing's Almquist Place (43). Next come DESC's The Morrison (40), Plymouth's Bertha Pitts Campbell Place (36), DESC's Lyon Building (36) and Plymouth on First Hill (35). The other three are a shelter that closed in 2025 (45), low-income apartments (34) and county emergency housing in a former motel (30). Nine of the top 16 are supportive housing. Counting street corners too, four downtown intersections lead and Hobson Place and The North Star tie for 5th. Without Hobson Place, 6 of the top 10 street addresses are still supportive housing. The overdose call type reflects what the caller reported and covers about a third of the department's suspected-overdose responses. About 44% of overdose calls were logged at intersections and are left out of the ranking. A call at an address can involve a visitor, a clinic patient or someone outside. FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address Seattle Fire Department FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address
We matched 57 supportive housing addresses, with 4,287 apartments, to the dispatch counts, and did the same for the 819 other addresses in Seattle's rental registration with 50 or more units (111,092 units). We divided calls by apartments and years. To test whether supportive housing simply labels more calls as overdoses, we compared overdose calls with all medical calls at those addresses and citywide. Seattle Fire Department, Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections United States 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 Supportive housing logged 600 overdose calls across 4,287 apartments: 3.65 per 100 apartments a year. The other large rental buildings logged 437 across 111,092 units: 0.10 per 100 a year, about 36 times fewer. Supportive housing addresses also logged 6.0% of the city's medical calls and 8.9% of its overdose calls. Their share of overdose calls rose from 8.2% in 2023 to 12.0% in January to October 2026. Some low-income buildings near downtown come close: The Frye logged about 3.8 per 100 apartments a year. Counting all medical calls, supportive housing logged about 14 times as many per apartment. The supportive housing list is partial for smaller operators, so its share is a lower bound. Some buildings opened during the period, so part of the rising share reflects more supportive housing; their apartments count for the whole period, which makes the per-apartment rate conservative. Unit counts come from different sources for the two groups, and the comparison group mixes market-rate, low-income and student buildings. FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address
We read DESC's descriptions of its housing, its Housing First approach, how residents are chosen, and Hobson Place. DESC United States 2026 DESC says most of its residents live with mental illness, substance use disorders, disabilities and extreme poverty, and calls them the community's most vulnerable adults. Its Housing First approach offers housing without requiring treatment or sobriety first. Units are filled through the regional homelessness authority's system, which uses an assessment tool to prioritize households. Hobson Place also has a clinic that serves the wider community. These are the operator's own descriptions. They explain who lives in the buildings but say nothing about overdose counts. DESC DESC DESC
We read the Seattle City Auditor's July 2024 report on places where overdoses and crime are concentrated. Seattle Office of City Auditor United States 2022, 2023, 2024 The auditor studied a two-block stretch of Third Avenue in Belltown. It found that 10 of the 11 fatal overdoses there from July 2022 to July 2023 happened in or outside three permanent supportive housing buildings. It cited new research suggesting that housing alone does not sufficiently address overdose risk. The report studied one site in depth and counted deaths, not 911 calls. The site also has two women's shelters and a clinic for homeless patients, so people who died outside the buildings were not necessarily residents. It does not rank buildings citywide. Seattle Office of City Auditor
1. Seattle's top street addresses for 911 overdose calls We counted every Seattle Fire Department dispatch with an overdose call type from January 2023 to October 2026, by address, in the city's public dispatch data. We set aside calls logged at intersections, which are street scenes, ranked the street addresses, and identified what is at each one from operator websites, the city's housing map and King County parcel records.

Seven of the 10 street addresses with the most overdose calls are permanent supportive housing. They are DESC's Hobson Place and The North Star (50 each) and Plymouth Housing's Almquist Place (43). Next come DESC's The Morrison (40), Plymouth's Bertha Pitts Campbell Place (36), DESC's Lyon Building (36) and Plymouth on First Hill (35). The other three are a shelter that closed in 2025 (45), low-income apartments (34) and county emergency housing in a former motel (30). Nine of the top 16 are supportive housing. Counting street corners too, four downtown intersections lead and Hobson Place and The North Star tie for 5th. Without Hobson Place, 6 of the top 10 street addresses are still supportive housing.

Limit: The overdose call type reflects what the caller reported and covers about a third of the department's suspected-overdose responses. About 44% of overdose calls were logged at intersections and are left out of the ranking. A call at an address can involve a visitor, a clinic patient or someone outside.

Verify: Top 16 street addresses for overdose calls How much of the fire department's overdose work the call type captures 2025 Annual Report Top 20 locations for overdose calls, intersections included Results without Hobson Place

Supportive housing holds 7 of Seattle's top 10 overdose-call addresses911 calls coded as overdoses at Seattle street addresses, January 2023 to October 2026. Bars are colored by what is at the address: supportive housing (apartments for formerly homeless people, with on-site services) or another kind of place.Supportive housing holds 7 of Seattle's top 10 overdose-call addresses911 overdose calls at each street address, Jan 2023 to Oct 2026Supportive housingOther placefacthub.org/n/chart/seattle-overdose-calls-top-addressesSource: City of SeattleNote: Counts only calls dispatched under the fire department's overdose call type, about a third of its suspected-overdose responses.Hobson Place (DESC)50Tied for 1stThe North Star (DESC)50Navigation Center shelter, closed 2025 (DESC)45Almquist Place (Plymouth)43The Morrison (DESC)40Bertha Pitts Campbell Place (Plymouth)36Lyon Building (DESC)36Plymouth on First Hill (Plymouth)35The Frye low-income apartments (LIHI)34Mary Pilgrim Inn emergency housing (DESC)30Cal Anderson Park29Fire Station 10 site28Clement Place (DESC)28Ross Dress for Less store27Simons Senior Apartments (Plymouth)25ARCO gas station, Aurora Ave N25
Supportive housing holds 7 of Seattle's top 10 overdose-call addresses911 calls coded as overdoses at Seattle street addresses, January 2023 to October 2026. Bars are colored by what is at the address: supportive housing (apartments for formerly homeless people, with on-site services) or another kind of place.Supportive housing holds 7 ofSeattle's top 10 overdose-calladdresses911 overdose calls at each street address, Jan 2023 to Oct2026Supportive housingOther placeSource: City of SeattleHobson Place (DESC)50Tied for 1stThe North Star (DESC)50Navigation Center shelter,closed 2025 (DESC)45Almquist Place (Plymouth)43The Morrison (DESC)40Bertha Pitts CampbellPlace (Plymouth)36Lyon Building (DESC)36Plymouth on First Hill(Plymouth)35The Frye low-incomeapartments (LIHI)34Mary Pilgrim Innemergency housing…30Cal Anderson Park29Fire Station 10 site28Clement Place (DESC)28Ross Dress for Less store27Simons Senior Apartments(Plymouth)25ARCO gas station, AuroraAve N25
Seattle street addresses with the most 911 overdose calls, January 2023 to October 2026, colored by what is at each address. Intersections left out. View source chart
2. Size-adjusted: supportive housing against other large rental buildings We matched 57 supportive housing addresses, with 4,287 apartments, to the dispatch counts, and did the same for the 819 other addresses in Seattle's rental registration with 50 or more units (111,092 units). We divided calls by apartments and years. To test whether supportive housing simply labels more calls as overdoses, we compared overdose calls with all medical calls at those addresses and citywide.

Supportive housing logged 600 overdose calls across 4,287 apartments: 3.65 per 100 apartments a year. The other large rental buildings logged 437 across 111,092 units: 0.10 per 100 a year, about 36 times fewer. Supportive housing addresses also logged 6.0% of the city's medical calls and 8.9% of its overdose calls. Their share of overdose calls rose from 8.2% in 2023 to 12.0% in January to October 2026. Some low-income buildings near downtown come close: The Frye logged about 3.8 per 100 apartments a year. Counting all medical calls, supportive housing logged about 14 times as many per apartment.

Limit: The supportive housing list is partial for smaller operators, so its share is a lower bound. Some buildings opened during the period, so part of the rising share reflects more supportive housing; their apartments count for the whole period, which makes the per-apartment rate conservative. Unit counts come from different sources for the two groups, and the comparison group mixes market-rate, low-income and student buildings.

Verify: Overdose calls per 100 units per year Overdose share of medical calls Supportive housing share of overdose calls by year Top 50 street addresses for overdose calls All medical calls per 100 units per year

Supportive housing logs about 36 times the overdose calls per apartment of other big buildings911 calls dispatched as overdoses per 100 apartments a year, January 2023 to October 2026, at the 10 supportive housing buildings with the most calls, against the average for all supportive housing and for other rental buildings with 50+ units.Supportive housing logs about 36 times the overdose calls per apartment of other bigbuildingsSeattle 911 overdose calls per 100 apartments a year, Jan 2023 to Oct 2026facthub.org/n/chart/seattle-overdose-calls-per-apartmentSource: City of Seattlegap is about 14 times.Note: Counts only calls dispatched as overdoses, about a third of the fire department's suspected-overdose responses; counting all medical calls the supportive housingHobson Place (DESC)15.35Lyon Building (DESC)14.67The North Star (DESC)13.04Plymouth on First Hill (Plymouth)11.41Almquist Place (Plymouth)11.00Bertha Pitts Campbell Place (Plymouth)9.39Clement Place (DESC)7.30Simons Senior Apartments (Plymouth)6.86Aurora House (DESC)6.00The Morrison (DESC)5.49All 57 supportive housing buildings3.65Other rental buildings with 50+ units0.10
Supportive housing logs about 36 times the overdose calls per apartment of other big buildings911 calls dispatched as overdoses per 100 apartments a year, January 2023 to October 2026, at the 10 supportive housing buildings with the most calls, against the average for all supportive housing and for other rental buildings with 50+ units.Supportive housing logs about 36times the overdose calls perapartment of other big buildingsSeattle 911 overdose calls per 100 apartments a year, Jan2023 to Oct 2026Source: City of SeattleHobson Place (DESC)15.35Lyon Building (DESC)14.67The North Star (DESC)13.04Plymouth on First Hill(Plymouth)11.41Almquist Place (Plymouth)11.00Bertha Pitts CampbellPlace (Plymouth)9.39Clement Place (DESC)7.30Simons Senior Apartments(Plymouth)6.86Aurora House (DESC)6.00The Morrison (DESC)5.49All 57 supportivehousing buildings3.65Other rental buildingswith 50+ units0.10
Overdose calls per 100 apartments a year, January 2023 to October 2026, at the 10 supportive housing buildings with the most calls, against the average for all supportive housing (3.65) and for other rental buildings with 50 or more units (0.10). View source chart
3. Who lives in supportive housing We read DESC's descriptions of its housing, its Housing First approach, how residents are chosen, and Hobson Place.

DESC says most of its residents live with mental illness, substance use disorders, disabilities and extreme poverty, and calls them the community's most vulnerable adults. Its Housing First approach offers housing without requiring treatment or sobriety first. Units are filled through the regional homelessness authority's system, which uses an assessment tool to prioritize households. Hobson Place also has a clinic that serves the wider community.

Limit: These are the operator's own descriptions. They explain who lives in the buildings but say nothing about overdose counts.

Verify: Supportive Housing Housing First Hobson Place

4. The City Auditor on overdoses around supportive housing We read the Seattle City Auditor's July 2024 report on places where overdoses and crime are concentrated.

The auditor studied a two-block stretch of Third Avenue in Belltown. It found that 10 of the 11 fatal overdoses there from July 2022 to July 2023 happened in or outside three permanent supportive housing buildings. It cited new research suggesting that housing alone does not sufficiently address overdose risk.

Limit: The report studied one site in depth and counted deaths, not 911 calls. The site also has two women's shelters and a clinic for homeless patients, so people who died outside the buildings were not necessarily residents. It does not rank buildings citywide.

Verify: Addressing Places in Seattle Where Overdoses and Crime are Concentrated: An Evidence-Based Approach

Common questions 8

“Bigger buildings naturally get more 911 calls.”

Short answer: Not this many

Size doesn't explain it. Per 100 apartments, supportive housing logged 3.65 overdose calls a year; Seattle's other rental buildings with 50 or more units logged 0.10, about 36 times fewer. Most of those other buildings, 79%, had no overdose calls at all. Supportive housing's 4,287 apartments logged more overdose calls (600) than those buildings' 111,092 units (437).

See the evidence: Size-adjusted: supportive housing against other large rental buildings

“Do staff in supportive housing just call 911 more readily?”

Short answer: Possibly, in part

Possibly, in part, and calling quickly can save lives. Staff on site can see overdoses that might go unnoticed in an ordinary apartment. Our labeling check can't measure that: it only shows that 3.35% of these addresses' medical calls were overdoses, against 2.25% citywide. How much of the gap comes from staff catching more overdoses is unknown.

See the evidence: Size-adjusted: supportive housing against other large rental buildings

“Do clinic patients and other non-residents inflate the top addresses?”

Short answer: Not enough to change it

Some calls may involve non-residents: Hobson Place hosts a clinic open to the wider community. Without Hobson Place, 6 of the top 10 street addresses are still supportive housing, and the rate is 3.41 overdose calls per 100 apartments a year. The dispatch records don't say who each patient was.

See the evidence: Seattle's top street addresses for 911 overdose calls

“Do other low-income buildings have just as many overdose calls?”

Short answer: Some come close

Some come close. The Frye, low-income apartments near Pioneer Square, logged about 3.8 overdose calls per 100 apartments a year, near supportive housing's 3.65; Thai Binh Apartments and Jefferson Terrace logged about 2. So the pattern follows the people and neighborhoods these buildings serve, not the supportive housing label alone. Supportive housing still holds 7 of the top 10 addresses.

See the evidence: Size-adjusted: supportive housing against other large rental buildings

“Do the high counts mean these operators do a bad job?”

Short answer: Not shown

The counts can't rate operators. These buildings house people DESC calls the community's most vulnerable adults, many with addiction and mental illness, chosen through a regional system that prioritizes households. A building with fewer calls might have healthier residents, or staff who call less. The counts do fit the research the City Auditor cited in 2024: housing alone does not sufficiently address overdose risk.

See the evidence: Who lives in supportive housing

“Are these overdose deaths?”

Short answer: No, calls

No. Each one is a 911 dispatch to a suspected overdose; the dispatch records don't say how it ended. Deaths are counted separately by the King County Medical Examiner. The City Auditor found that 10 of 11 overdose deaths on a two-block stretch of Third Avenue in Belltown, from July 2022 to July 2023, happened in or outside three supportive housing buildings. The block also has shelters and a clinic.

See the evidence: The City Auditor on overdoses around supportive housing

Related claim: Are more of King County's overdose deaths in subsidized housing? True — About 1 in 4 King County overdose deaths in 2025 happened in subsidized housing, by the Medical Examiner's count.

“Most overdoses happen on the street, not in housing.”

Short answer: Many do

Many do: 44% of overdose calls were logged at intersections. Counting those corners, the four busiest locations are downtown and Chinatown-International District intersections, and Hobson Place and The North Star tie for 5th. Supportive housing still holds 7 of the top 20 locations.

See the evidence: Seattle's top street addresses for 911 overdose calls

“Many overdose calls aren't logged as overdoses.”

Short answer: About two in three

True. Calls dispatched as overdoses were 33% to 36% of the fire department's suspected-overdose responses in 2023 to 2025; the rest went out as general medical calls. The ranking covers calls where the caller reported an overdose. Counting all medical calls instead, supportive housing logs about 14 times as many per apartment as other large rental buildings.

See the evidence: Seattle's top street addresses for 911 overdose calls

Conclusion

Seattle's public dispatch records settle the narrow question. From January 2023 to October 2026, permanent supportive housing buildings held 7 of the 10 street addresses with the most 911 overdose calls, including both buildings tied for first. Per apartment, they logged about 36 times the overdose calls of other large rental buildings, and about 14 times the medical calls of every kind. Without Hobson Place, which hosts a community clinic, 6 of the top 10 are still supportive housing.

The result narrows under other readings. Counting street corners, four downtown intersections lead, and the two top buildings tie for 5th. The supportive housing share of the city's overdose calls was 8.2% in 2023, dipped to 7.2% in 2024 and reached 12.0% in January to October 2026; part of that rise reflects new buildings opening.

The finding is about where overdoses happen, not about blame. These buildings house people with long homelessness, disabilities, mental illness and addiction; DESC calls them the community's most vulnerable adults. Staff who call 911 promptly may catch overdoses that would go unreported elsewhere, and some low-income buildings nearby have rates close to supportive housing's. What the counts do show is that housing alone has not stopped overdoses among the people it serves, which fits the research the City Auditor cited in 2024 and the county's death data.

We rate the claim True with high confidence. The data is the city's own and every count can be rebuilt from public queries. All the checks come from the same dispatch data; the City Auditor's death counts are the one independent line of evidence. What remains unknown is how many people the calls involve, how many ended in death, and whether residents would overdose more or less somewhere else.

How we checked
  1. We defined the claim as whether some supportive housing buildings rank among the Seattle street addresses with the most 911 calls dispatched as overdoses.
  2. We counted overdose-type dispatches ("Medic Response- Overdose" and two rare variants) by address for 2023, 2024, 2025 and January to October 2026 in the city's public fire dispatch data, pulled November 10, 2026.
  3. We set aside calls logged at intersections and ranked the remaining street addresses by total calls.
  4. We built a list of permanent supportive housing addresses from DESC, Plymouth Housing, Catholic Community Services, Chief Seattle Club and Low Income Housing Institute websites, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority's services data and the city's housing map, and identified the other top addresses from King County parcel records.
  5. We compared calls per 100 apartments with every other building of 50 or more units in Seattle's rental registration, and compared overdose calls with all medical calls to check for labeling differences.
  6. We used the fire department's 2025 annual report to measure how much of its overdose work the call type captures, and the City Auditor's 2024 report for deaths at one site.
  7. We recorded what the data can't show: whether a call ended in death, how many people the calls involve, and overdoses dispatched as general medical calls.
  8. Every table and query is in the linked dataset.

Editorial note: This check covers 911 calls the Seattle Fire Department dispatched as overdoses at Seattle street addresses from January 2023 to October 2026, matched to permanent supportive housing buildings. It does not rate any operator, measure overdose deaths by building, or test whether supportive housing raises or lowers overdose risk. No external specialist review has been recorded.

Expert-review status

No external specialist review has been recorded.

Funding and conflicts

Funding: No external funding for this piece.

Ownership: Published by the FactHub Research Team.

Conflicts: None known.

Sources 14

Sources are labeled by kind, with what this fact check takes from each, so readers can check the evidence independently.

  1. FactHub record FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address. Top 16 street addresses for overdose calls

    Saved analysis ranking Seattle street addresses by overdose-coded 911 dispatches, January 2023 to October 2026, with what is at each.

    • 7 of the top 10 street addresses for overdose calls are supportive housing: Hobson Place and The North Star (50 each), Almquist Place (43), The Morrison (40), Bertha Pitts Campbell Place and the Lyon Building (36 each), Plymouth on First Hill (35). 9 of the top 16 are.

      Not yet checked

    • Qualifies: The other three top-10 addresses are a shelter that closed in 2025 (45 calls), The Frye low-income apartments (34) and Mary Pilgrim Inn, county emergency housing in a former motel (30).

      Not yet checked

  2. FactHub record FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address. Overdose calls per 100 units per year

    Saved analysis comparing overdose calls per 100 apartments in supportive housing with other registered rental buildings of 50 or more units.

    • Supportive housing: 57 addresses, 4,287 units, 600 calls, 3.65 per 100 units per year; 21% had no calls. Other rental buildings with 50+ units: 819 addresses, 111,092 units, 437 calls, 0.10 per 100 units per year; 79% had no calls.

      Not yet checked

  3. FactHub record FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address. Supportive housing share of overdose calls by year

    Saved analysis giving the share of all overdose-coded calls at supportive housing addresses each year.

    • Supportive housing share of overdose calls: 8.2% in 2023 (174 of 2,128), 7.2% in 2024, 9.7% in 2025 and 12.0% in Jan-Oct 2026 (121 of 1,006); 600 of 6,740 overall. 2,960 calls (44%) were at intersections, leaving 3,780 at street addresses.

      Not yet checked

  4. FactHub record FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address. Overdose share of medical calls

    Saved analysis comparing overdose calls with all medical calls, citywide and at supportive housing addresses.

    • Qualifies: Citywide: 300,118 medical calls, 6,740 overdose calls (2.25%). Supportive housing addresses: 17,893 medical calls (6.0% of the city's) and 600 overdose calls (8.9%), so 3.35% of their medical calls were overdoses.

      Not yet checked

  5. FactHub record FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address. How much of the fire department's overdose work the call type captures

    Saved analysis comparing overdose-coded dispatches with the fire department's annual totals of suspected overdoses.

    • Qualifies: Overdose-coded calls were 2,128 of 6,538 suspected overdoses in 2023 (33%), 1,785 of 5,203 in 2024 (34%) and 1,821 of 5,001 in 2025 (36%).

      Not yet checked

  6. FactHub record FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address. Top 20 locations for overdose calls, intersections included

    Saved analysis ranking every dispatch location, street corners included.

    • Qualifies: Counting intersections, four downtown and Chinatown-International District corners lead (217, 151, 128, 98 calls); Hobson Place and The North Star tie for 5th. Supportive housing holds 3 of the top 11 locations and 7 of the top 20.

      Not yet checked

  7. FactHub record FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address. All medical calls per 100 units per year

    Saved analysis comparing all aid and medic calls per 100 apartments.

    • Counting all medical calls, supportive housing logged 108.9 per 100 units a year against 7.7 in other rental buildings with 50+ units, about 14 times as many; for overdose-coded calls the gap is about 36 times.

      Not yet checked

  8. FactHub record FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address. Results without Hobson Place

    Saved analysis repeating the ranking and per-unit comparison with Hobson Place removed.

    • Without Hobson Place, 6 of the top 10 street addresses are still supportive housing, and supportive housing logs 3.41 overdose calls per 100 units a year (550 calls, 4,202 units).

      Not yet checked

  9. FactHub record FactHub dataset: Seattle 911 overdose calls by address. Top 50 street addresses for overdose calls

    Table of the 50 Seattle street addresses with the most overdose-coded calls, with what is at each and its units where known.

    • Qualifies: Some low-income buildings near downtown also have high counts: The Frye (234 units) had 34 calls, about 3.8 per 100 units a year; Thai Binh Apartments (249) had 21, about 2.2; Jefferson Terrace public housing (283) had 20, about 1.8.

      Not yet checked

  10. Government Seattle Fire Department. 2025 Annual Report

    The fire department's yearly report, with its table of suspected overdoses it responded to in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

    Reliability: The department's own annual report. Its 'Tracking overdoses' table counts all suspected overdoses (all substances): 6,538 in 2023, 5,203 in 2024 and 5,001 in 2025.

    • Qualifies: The fire department reports that suspected overdoses of all substances peaked in 2023 and have been slowly falling since.

      What the source says
      After a peak in 2023, the number of suspected overdoses (all substances) has been slowly trending downward.
      Tracking overdoses, p. 19

      Not yet checked

  11. Other DESC. Supportive Housing

    DESC's page describing its supportive housing, residents, services and how units are filled.

    Reliability: Has a stake in this finding. DESC is Seattle's largest supportive housing operator and runs four of the seven supportive housing buildings in the top 10 in this check, so it has a stake in how the counts are read. It describes its own programs here.

    • Qualifies: DESC says most of its housing residents live with mental illness, substance use disorders, physical or developmental disabilities and extreme poverty.

      What the source says
      Most DESC housing residents live with challenges that would seem overwhelming or insurmountable to the average person: mental illness, substance use disorders, physical or developmental disabilities and extreme poverty.
      Supportive Housing section

      Not yet checked

    • Qualifies: DESC's supportive housing units are filled through the regional homelessness authority's Coordinated Entry system, which uses an assessment tool to prioritize homeless households.

      What the source says
      This system uses an assessment tool called the “Housing Triage Tool” or VI-SPDAT to prioritize and match homeless households to vacant units.
      Housing placement section

      Not yet checked

  12. Other DESC. Housing First

    DESC's explanation of the Housing First approach used in all its housing.

    Reliability: Has a stake in this finding. DESC pioneered Housing First in the Seattle area and advocates for it; this page explains and promotes the approach.

    • Qualifies: Housing First offers housing without first requiring treatment or proof of sobriety, with a low threshold for entry.

      What the source says
      Without clinical prerequisites like completion of a course of treatment or evidence of sobriety and with a low-threshold for entry
      What is Housing First?

      Not yet checked

    • Qualifies: DESC describes itself as the leading developer of permanent supportive housing for the community's most vulnerable adults.

      What the source says
      DESC has become the leading developer of permanent supportive housing for our community's most vulnerable adults.
      What is Housing First?

      Not yet checked

  13. Other DESC. Hobson Place

    DESC's page for Hobson Place, 1911 22nd Avenue South.

    Reliability: Has a stake in this finding. The operator's own building page for an address in this check; it gives the address, unit counts and the on-site clinic.

    • Qualifies: Hobson Place has 177 studio apartments in two phases and a clinic that serves both residents and the wider community, so some calls there may involve clinic patients.

      What the source says
      Hobson Place is also a supportive housing building featuring 177 studio units in total. The Clinic at Hobson Place serves residents of the supportive housing and the broader community
      Building description

      Not yet checked

  14. Government Seattle Office of City Auditor. Addressing Places in Seattle Where Overdoses and Crime are Concentrated: An Evidence-Based Approach

    July 2024 audit of places in Seattle where overdoses and crime cluster, with a case study of Third Avenue in Belltown.

    Reliability: The City Auditor is an independent office reporting to the City Council. The case-study death counts come from the King County Medical Examiner.

    • At the auditor's Third Avenue case-study site, 10 of the 11 fatal overdoses from July 2022 to July 2023 happened in or outside three permanent supportive housing buildings.

      What the source says
      Data from the King County Medical Examiner's Office indicates 10 of the 11 fatal overdoses (91 percent) occurred in or outside of the three permanent supportive housing buildings at the location.
      Page 5

      Not yet checked

    • The auditor cited new research suggesting that housing alone does not sufficiently address overdose risk.

      What the source says
      Although housing is essential for addressing homelessness, new research suggests that housing alone does not sufficiently address overdose risk.
      Page 6, Audit Case Study Site

      Not yet checked

    • Qualifies: The case-study site is a service hub: besides three supportive housing buildings it has a women's shelter, a women's day shelter, a clinic for homeless patients and an outreach office, so not everyone who died outside was a resident.

      What the source says
      This area includes three permanent supportive housing facilities, a homeless shelter for women, a day shelter for women, a medical clinic that provides healthcare for homeless and at-risk patients
      Page 6, Audit Case Study Site

      Not yet checked

  15. FactHub dataset Seattle 911 overdose calls by address, 2023 to October 2026

    • Tables: top-building-addresses

      Saved analysis top-addresses-ranked

    • Tables: per-unit-comparison, supportive-housing-buildings, comparison-buildings

      Saved analysis per-unit-comparison

    • Tables: yearly-totals

      Saved analysis psh-share-by-year

    • Tables: coding-check

      Saved analysis coding-check

    • Tables: yearly-totals

      Saved analysis code-coverage

  16. FactHub chart seattle-overdose-calls-per-apartment
  17. FactHub chart seattle-overdose-calls-top-addresses

Update history 3 changes, last

  1. Added key points on other readings: with street corners counted, four intersections lead and the top two buildings tie for 5th; counting all medical calls, supportive housing still logs about 14 times as many per apartment (feedback 2516079271786061536-267c548cfe3b1464c3e9f93b7ec3d19c). Added a question on clinic patients and other non-residents, with results without Hobson Place, and said the labeling check can't measure whether staff catch more overdoses (feedback 2516079271788305724-821fe553c7cac4b516b156df9c88dc11). The conclusion now gives the 2024 dip to 7.2%, says 2026 covers January to October only, and says new buildings explain part of the rising share (feedback 2516079271790649758-7eb23e666912aae7f9203ee415baf9d1). Cites dataset version 2.
  2. Chart upgrade: added a lead chart of overdose calls per 100 apartments at the 10 supportive housing buildings with the most calls, with benchmark rows for all supportive housing and for other large rental buildings. The ranking chart now names both bar colors in its key and marks the tie for first. Cites dataset version 4, which adds the per-building rates; no counts changed.
  3. First version.

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{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ClaimReview","url":"https://facthub.org/n/article/seattle-supportive-housing-overdose-calls","datePublished":"2026-11-11","dateModified":"2026-11-11","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"FactHub","url":"https://facthub.org/"},"claimReviewed":"Some of Seattle\u0027s supportive housing buildings are among the city\u0027s top addresses for 911 overdose calls.","reviewRating":{"@type":"Rating","alternateName":"True"},"image":"https://facthub.org/node-assets-v2/article/seattle-supportive-housing-overdose-calls/3/img-medic/social-1200x630.jpg"}

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Technical details: node handle article:seattle-supportive-housing-overdose-calls